If you’ve ever stood on the Pier at Pennypack on the Delaware and looked toward the Southern Forest, you may have noticed an abandoned boat that’s called the park’s waters home for over five years. In a collaboration between Riverfront North, Philadelphia Water Department, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, and Philadelphia Barge Company, the boat was removed from the shoreline in a week-long effort at the end of January.

“We met with some of our partners at Riverfront North who communicated to us that there’s an abandoned boat,” said Maria Horowitz of the Philadelphia Water Department. The boat in question had been abandoned at the edge of the southern forest for some time and, at one point, rumored to have been set on fire.

“This piece of marine debris is a public nuisance as well as an ecological hazard,” said Chris Dougherty, Riverfront North’s Director of Projects. “Removing it will continue to improve waterways.”

“This is not something we see often, but it’s an eyesore and something that we want to remove as it does impact water quality,” stated Horowitz, who is an Environmental Engineer for the Watershed Field Services Management. PWD manages a waterways debris contract and programs to remove debris in Philadelphia’s watershed.

Piece by piece, the derelict boat was removed from the river over a span of a week and the shoreline at the southern forest is no longer a danger to the wellbeing of Pennypack on the Delaware’s ecosystem.